Cook: How to make chewy Mee Hoon Kueh’s dough

My version of dry Mee Hoon Kueh

Mee Hoon Kueh is one of my favourite dish especially on a cold night like this. Imagine gobbling down a bowl of it. I like it both soupy and dry. For the dry version, I usually cook a cooling soup to goes with it and I had mine with winter melon soup for tonight.

I am sure everyone knows how to cook mee hoon kueh and the trickiest part is probably the dough. I like mine chewy and I am sure everyone has their own preferences. 

The secret lies behind the egg to flour ratio. The higher the ratio of egg to flour, the more chewy. The usual ratio is 1 egg to 250-500g of flour. Hence, 1 egg to 250g flour is more chewy than 1 egg to 500g of flour.

My recipe will have a range for water as well, cause different flour might need a different amount of water. Just knead them until it forms a dough and does not stick to your hand, adding water or flour as needed.

And here comes my chewy mee hoon kueh's dough recipe:

INGREDIENTS (makes dough that serves 4):

Ingredients needed

1. 500g of plain flour

2. 2 eggs, lightly beaten

3. 160-200ml of water 

4. 2 tablespoon of oil 

5. 1 teaspoon of salt 

METHODS:

1. Add the eggs to the flour.

2. Mix them with hands.

3. Slowly add the water and mix evenly.

4. Then add the oil and salt and knead into a dough.

TIPS: During the process, may add water or flour to the dough until the dough is smooth (as shown) as does not stick to the hand when knead. When hand pulled, the dough should be elastic but does not break, then it is ready.

Dough is ready

I wanted to try out using shape so that the kids will be happy eating them... so I used this star shaped mould to cut out the dough.

My star shaped mould

Added some flour to prevent them from sticking together....

Hoping my kids will like it

And I place a wet damp cloth on it when I am done shaping, waiting to cook in an hour time when kids wakes up from their nap...

Star for kids and normal dough for adults

But..............

When I wanna cook.... the dough all sticks to one another *cry*...

I did check to make sure that they are separable after I make them ... very sad when they all stick together....

So kiddy didn't get their star shaped mee hoon kueh this time round.... *sob, sob*

Was so looking forward for them to gobble down the star mee hoon kueh happily.... :(

Anyway, enough with my sob story... I served mine with fried anchovies and onions... with some vegetable and mushroom...

Fried mini anchovies and onions

And top with a fried egg....

My version of dry Mee Hoon Kueh

Yum yum... love the egg yolk :)

Enjoy!

Cook: Fried Banana Balls (aka Jemput Jemput Pisang aka Cekodok Pisang)

Fried Banana Balls

Fried banana balls or more commonly referred to as "Jemput Jemput Pisang" is one of my childhood favourite. My mum used to buy them off this Malay auntie stall for our afternoon tea. 

Since I moved over to Singapore, I haven't eaten it. 

As I had some overripe bananas, decided to make some for my hubby and kids. This is the first time my kids ate this, and brings back some memories for me as well.

INGREDIENTS (Makes 12 balls):

1. 8 small bananas (or 4 large ones)

2. one cup of plain flour

3. one tablespoon of salted butter, cooled down to room temperature

4. half a tablespoon of sugar

5. a pinch of salt

Ingredients required

METHODS:

1. Minced the bananas using a fork.

2. Add salt and sugar. Mix well.

3. Using hand, mix the butter into the flour

4. Add the flour/butter into the banana mixture.

5. Mix well using hand , pinching them.

Mixed and ready to deep fried

6. Heat up oil in a frying pan.

7. Using two spoons, one to scoop the mixture and one to slide them into the boiling oil.

8. Deep fried them until golden.

Turn over when it is golden

9. Served hot with a cup of coffee or tea.

Have a piece :)

Crispy outside, sweet inside

Play: A fun day out when daddy is on business trip

A quick diary on our fun day out when daddy is not around....

All ready to go...

Shocked face...

First stop--> Toys R Us 

play play and no buy... :)

Second stop--> colouring at Cotton On....

Lunch @ Marche...

Loving the rosti just like mummy...

and they had the kids meal (very worth it!)

* Less than SGD 10 for a rosti with sausage plus a cup of freshly squeeze juice (including tax)

and have playground too. Play to their heart's content as daddy is not around...

Photo taking with Hair for hope mascot ... 

Kiddies time seeing people cut hair for charity. Took the chance to explain to the kids as well..

Dinner at Subway before heading home...

Taking the MRT.. happy

We only spend on food. Did not buy anything. Nevertheless, kids are happy :)

Cook: Homemade Blackberries Cream Cheese

Homemade Blackberries Cream Cheese served with bagel and coffee

I bought some bagel the other day at Cold Storage and so got an idea to make some simple cream cheese to goes with it. Tried blueberries cream cheese on bagel during my trip to Melbourne and really love it.

Read about my experience of amazing coffee and bagel at Manchester Press, Melbourne:

http://blessedlittletravelers.blogspot.sg/2016/09/winter-in-melbourne-2016-day-9.html

INGREDIENTS:

1. 250g of cream cheese, soften at room temperature

2. 1/8 cup of castor sugar

3. zest from 1/2 lemon

4. 1 cup of blackberries

Ingredients

Lemon zest

METHODS:

1. Whip the cream cheese using an electric mixer until it is soft and fluffy.

2. Add in sugar and lemon zest, mix well using electric mixer.

3. Next, pour in a cup of blackberries and fold them in gently.

4. This is how it looks like when it is done.

5. Served in a nice serving bowl :)

Blackberries Cream Cheese

Eat: The Kitchen at Bacchanalia (1 Michelin Star) Singapore

Kitchen at Bacchanalia, awarded 1 Michelin Star serves contemporary French cuisine at 39, Hong Kong Street, Singapore.

They serves 2 or 3 courses working lunch menu. Prices are reasonable compared to other Michelin Star Restaurant.

Best of all, still/sparkling water and unlimited bread supply is complimentary....

On top of that, OCBC card members get free upgrade from 2 to 3 courses meal when pay using OCBC credit card. 

Parking can be an issue as there are limited parking space nearby. However, the restaurant do offer valet parking for its customer. Otherwise, take a cab here to save the trouble for parking.

Working lunch menu

We arrived at 12.30pm , just nice for our appointment. The restaurant has an open kitchen concept so you could watch while the chef prepare our food. 

Once we sat down, we were asked if we would like still or sparkling water. We choose still water and was served promptly. For the kids, I asked for warm water and that was being served as well.

Table plating was nice and unique. Even the side plate for bread is very pretty.

With my pretty girl

Mummy and the boy boy

Open kitchen concept

Kids love to observe what is going on in the kitchen

We were then served bread and this is practically the highlight of the meal. The bread is very very good and freshly baked on the spot. Butter is very good as well. They are very observant and keep refilling our bread once we are finished, so we had a good supply of bread.

Bread and butter (complimentary and unlimited supply throughout appetiser and main course)

We were then served two complimentary starters. First up was beef. The waiter was very nice and asked if the kids would like to have the starter as well.

Even though we only ordered 2 set of 3 courses meals to share between 2 adults and 2 kids, the kids also get their share of complimentary appetiser :)

To be honest, I have to comment that their complimentary appetiser is much much better than the starter that we ordered.

The beef is very fresh and goes very well with the radish and some creamy sauce that was topped on it.

Complimentary appetizer- raw beef

Garlic soup sounded ewww but it is surprisingly very good!

Another complimentary appetiser-garlic soup with olive oil

Our starter on the other hand, was a bit of a disappointment.

Appetizer- White peach- french bean, almond and fois gras snow

Now for the main course, I had short rib which is ok, nothing fantastic but not bad either.

Main course- Braised short rib -beef

Mum ordered fish and its much better than my beef. She enjoyed it and shared it with the kids.

Fish 

For dessert, it is the kids' favourite strawberries dessert and they practically finish the dessert themselves. I did manage to ate a mouthful. Not amazing, but tasted ok...

Strawberry Breton

Overall, the dining experience is pleasant but I was not wow-ed by its food... bread and complimentary appetiser is definitely my favourite during the meal. 

Still, if one is looking to try a Michelin Star Restaurant and wanted a reasonable priced Michelin Star Restaurant, I will still recommend Kitchen at Bacchanalia for its excellent service and dining experience.

* Reservation is recommanded.

The Kitchen at Bacchanalia 

39 Hong Kong Street

Singapore 059678

OPENING HOURS

Lunch - Tuesday to Saturday 12pm to 2.30pm

Dinner- Tuesday to Saturday 6pm to 10.30pm

CLOSED ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY

Eat: Island Penang Kitchen, Singapore

Looking for authentic Penang local food in Singapore?

Give Island Penang Kitchen a try.....

Although there are hit and misses when compared with the ones sold in Penang, generally it is still a good place to visit when craving for Penang food....

Located at one of the shop houses opposite West Coast Plaza, one have to either drive, Uber, or take a bus there as there are no MRT station nearby...

All prices are NETT as there is no service charges or GST (all included)....

You can get fried kuay tiao, prawn noodle , assam laksa, chendol, nutmeg juice, fried pork, etc....

There are air-conditioned seats inside the shop and there are a couple of seats outside as well...

Anything below $30, they only accept cash. NETS can be used for bill more than $30. 

Menu 

Menu 

No service charge and GST (all prices are NETT)

Now, lets take a look at the food.... 

These are what we ordered...

Fried Kuey Tiao-- generous serving of kuey tiao, fried with prawn, chinese sausage and fish cake , beansprouts. Yummy...

Fried Kuey Tiao

Prawn noodle- slightly spicy broth. Very flavourful prawn soup, served with prawn and hard boiled egg. Very good.. one of my favourite.

Prawn Noodle

Assam Laksa- this is a misses... doesn't taste much like the authentic Penang Assam Laksa....not recommended.

Asam Laksa

Fried Belachan Pork- tasted ok....

Belachan Pork

Chendol- quite a small serving. Gula Melaka taste is good but not as shiok as the one in Penang. Still, quite good for local Singapore standard...

Chendol

Opening hours (closed on alternate Tuesday)

Island Penang Kitchen

#01-126, Block 721,

Clementi West Street 2

Singapore 120721

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday: 11am to 2.30pm, 5pm to 9.30pm

Saturday, Sunday, PH: 11am to 9.30pm

Closed on alternate Tuesday